Fiscal Note
BILL # SB 1237 TITLE: agency accounts; technical correction NOW: state
employees; remote work; prohibition
SPONSOR: Petersen STATUS: Senate Engrossed
PREPARED BY: Ethan Scheider
Description
The bill specifies that state agencies must require all full-time employees to work at the state agency's office during the
employee's regularly scheduled work hours. The bill exempts any employee whose job requires them to perform duties at
a location other than the agency's office and authorizes supervisors to allow sick employees to work remotely.
Estimated Impact
The fiscal impact will depend on how the Executive implements the legislation. The Executive will need to determine how
many state workers are currently fully remote or share their office space on alternating days and would need new space.
We do not have that information.
The Executive could plan to bring back remote workers but stay within the current available square footage by reducing
the amount of space per FTE Position. Another approach would be to acquire additional office space for the previously
remote workers. If the additional office space requires new appropriations, the Legislature would then need to decide
whether to provide the additional funding.
We have requested information from the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) regarding their estimated fiscal
impact and are awaiting their response. The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) believes that the cost of implementing the
bill would be "very expensive" but did not provide a specific cost estimate for themselves or the universities as a whole.
Analysis
As of December 31, 2024, 15,909 state employees in the ADOA personnel system worked remotely either full time or
partially. We do not know, however, how many of those employees would require new office space.
Local Government Impact
None
3/20/25